In the work considered his masterpiece -- the twin gymnasiums designed for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics -- he placed two comma-shaped buildings with sweeping roofs like upside-down ships' hulls so as to connect two busy Tokyo districts.
The jury that awarded Mr. Tange the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1987 called him a leading theoretician of architecture and an inspiring teacher.
''His stadiums for the Olympic Games held in Tokyo in 1964 are often described as among the most beautiful structures built in the 20th century," the jury said.
Later in his career, Mr. Tange designed buildings in China, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Nigeria, Italy, Yugoslavia, and the United States. He taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1960s and was a guest lecturer at Harvard University, among other US institutions.
A native of Shikoku Island, Mr. Tange was inspired by the French modernist Le Corbusier and worked for Kunio Mayekawa, who had himself worked with Le Corbusier. Mr. Tange often used concrete in his structures, conveying sweeping power with Oriental lines.
Mr. Tange's visions were often ambitious, including a plan to redesign the chaotic streets of Tokyo and extend the city out over its harbor on bridges and floating megastructures.
Mr. Tange was also known as an influential teacher to a generation of the architects. As a professor at Tokyo University's Architecture School, he often used his students to help design some of his buildings. Among these students were Kisho Kurokawa, who later designed Amsterdam's famed Van Gogh Museum and the Kuala Lumpur airport, and Fumihiko Maki, the architect of the Spiral Building in Tokyo's chic Omotesando district and the 1993 winner of the Pritzker Prize.
Mr. Tange leaves his wife, Takako, and a son, Noritaka.
